Practice & Roster Update, Meeting Jack Gulati, Community Service Fishing, Free Tickets for Vets & More

It appeared  unusually calm at the Allen Americans practice yesterday with everyone dressed in red or white jerseys which is a sure sign it will be an easy practice with a scrimmage included. The one exception to the red or white jersey was Eric Roy who was on the ice wearing a cage and the no contact yellow jersey. While Roy is cleared to participate in practice do not expect to see him in a game anytime soon. The best case scenario for the Americans is to let him get 100% healed and back in shape and play in a few games toward the end of the season before playoffs start.


- Look for a couple of roster changes today. According to AHL transactions forward Alex Krushelnyski has been loaned to Allen by Binghamton (AHL). This is part of the deal that sent defenseman Randy Cure to Wichita. It is also expected a forward from Allen will be loaned to an AHL team today.


- New team owner Jack Gulati will be in Allen for the games with Wichita this weekend as he promised when he was here in February for the announcement he had bought the team. Jack made it clear to everyone at that first press conference he is the type of owner that enjoys meeting and talking to the fans. You can expect he will be roaming the concourse Friday night, decked out in an Allen Americans jersey, meeting and greeting the fans. I encourage everyone to introduce yourself to Jack, thank him for buying the team and share any thoughts, ideas and concerns you may have. My understanding is Jack intends to be in the season ticket holder lounge on Saturday from 5:00 - 6:00 pm to mix and mingle with the season ticket holders. Not sure of the exact format but the team will be sending info to the season ticket holders as soon as it is finalized. Again, I encourage all season ticket holders to come early, stop by and meet Jack, thank him personally for taking the risk to buy the team, and share your thoughts, ideas and concerns on how to make sure the team is successful both on and off the ice going forward. I think you will find Jack very engaging and this isn't just a public relations deal, he truly wants to hear what fans have to say.


- The Allen Americans players get numerous requests for public appearances and spend lots of their free time visiting schools, hospitals, sponsor events and participating in fan club events such as the golf outing that takes place today. Recently, the players got a unique request from the Heritage Ranch FFF fishing club. FFF which stands for "Fishing For Fun" needed help catching crappies to be transplanted between two bodies of water at Heritage Ranch. The request was very simple, can you send the best fishermen on the team to help catch 100 crappies to be transplanted. Yesterday afternoon was the big day and Dyson Stevenson, Derek Mathers, Tanner Eberle and Aaron Gens helped some FFF members accomplish the mission. Riley Gill, who is the best goalie, golfer and fisherman on the team had something come up last minute and couldn't make it but otherwise these are the best fishermen on the team. Thanks for help boys!

L to R Dyson Stevenson, Derek Mathers, Tanner Eberle & Aaron Gens with Heritage Ranch FFF members

- The Americans will be wearing specialty jerseys the next two Saturday nights so let us hope the specialty jersey jinx doesn't  rear its ugly head again. This is the time of year Allen needs to start putting teams away and not let them hang around as has been the case recently.  Here is a look at the specialty jerseys.

 - The game on March 25th is the 8th Annual Military Appreciation Night and many of you know I am a Vietnam Veteran. Over the last few years the Americans have allowed me to offer free tickets to the many veterans that live at Heritage Ranch (where I reside) from World War II, Korea and Vietnam. The Americans have long supported veterans through their "Seats for Soldiers" program. This year I asked the Allen Americans if I could expand the program and offer free tickets to veterans that read Allen Americans Blog and they have graciously agreed. I am in the process of putting the procedures together and will provide the details in the next couple of days. This is just a heads up, I will be offering free tickets for all veterans (and their family) for the game on March 25. A special thanks to the Allen Americans for allowing me to do this. 


- Here is as story written by Mike Stern of Inside Hockey talking about the Allen Americans "Drive for Five." http://www.insidehockey.com/four-time-defending-kelly-presidents-cup-champ-allen-counting-down-to-drive-for-five/


- Kale Kerbashian, who was traded to Wheeling at the trade deadline last week and suspended by the Nailers for failing to report, has changed his mind according to ECHL transactions. In the transactions issued by the league yesterday Kale was added to the active roster with an effective date of March 12.


-There is still time to enter the drawing for free tickets for the weekend. I won't have the drawing until 5:00 pm today. Here are the details:

I have two free tickets for both games this weekend (Friday & Saturday 7:05 pm). The tickets are in the fifth row off the ice on the aisle in section 100. The tickets are at the end of the rink where the Americans are on offense twice. I will have a drawing for the tickets tomorrow (Wednesday) afternoon, notify the winners and leave the tickets at will call. If you are interested let me know via Twitter, Facebook, the Blog, text, in person or by email (janssenfamily@msn.com). All I need is your name and if you are interested in Friday, Saturday or both.



DID YOU KNOW: There are seven teams in the ECHL with over 1000 penalty minutes and they are all in the Western Conference led by Allen with 1232 minutes and Colorado with 1212 minutes. The Eastern Conference has just one team with as many as 900 penalty minutes. South Carolina leads the conference with 902. The average penalty minutes per team in the Eastern Conference is 787 and the average in the Western Conference is 957.